Technician found dead in tobacco factory
By IANSTuesday, January 18, 2011
GHAZIABAD - A technician was found dead in mysterious circumstances inside the International Tobacco Company (ITC) factory here, police said Tuesday. The family claimed he was murdered and accused the factory management of a cover-up.
According to police, Mukesh Bhargava, 35, was found dead on the third floor inside ITC factory on Meerut Road Monday. Sources said Mukesh had gone to repair an intercom system in the factory on a complaint Jan 11 but never returned.
“The entry register maintained by the security guard at the factory entrance gate revealed that Mukesh had made an entry at 10.20 a.m. and exited at 3.20 p.m. through the same gate,” his brother Virendra said.
“When he did not return home till late night, we went to the factory next day and asked the security guard to let us meet the senior management. But he did not allow us and told us that Mukesh had gone out at 3.20 p.m. as shown in register. He then did not permit us to enter the premises and sent us off from the main gate itself,” he told.
“This shows that there was something wrong. The factory insiders were involved in the whole thing. He did not commit suicide but was murdered. And the company is hiding all this,” Virendra said.
“My husband had left in the morning as usual on any other day Jan 11. He called me from the company’s landline at around 2 p.m. and told me that he was inside ITC factory and would return home in the evening. But he never came back,” his widow Raj Rani said.
Asked about the matter, the company management said the technician was found hanging from a grill Monday.
“He was familiar to the factory and visited us often to attend complaints. On Monday evening, when two boys of the housekeeping staff went to third floor for checking some seepage, they found him hanging with a rope attached to a grill and informed us,” said Sohan Pal Sirohi, an official of the company.
Superintendent of Police Avdesh Kumar Vijeta said: “We have sent the body for post mortem. The exact cause of death would be ascertained only then. It is not possible to say anything now. The matter is being investigated.”
